A Talented Glass Blower Demonstrates His Art

Often times we are unaware of the great things going on in our own backyards, which is why I was delighted to recently meet Morgan Schwartz. Morgan is a young artist here in New Haven who discovered a passion for glass blowing after getting a degree in art education and studying with a Venetian master at the Corning Museum of Glass. Since then, he’s focused his artwork on glass. Yesterday, he was kind enough to invite me to his studio to talk and to explain his craft. He uses a technique called lampworking that uses a blazing hot torch to melt tubes and bars of glass that can then be pulled, shaped, twisted and transformed into just about anything the imagination can come up with.

He’s created a beautiful and unique collection of glass sculptures, goblets, jars, pendants, marbles, and holiday ornaments and yesterday he demonstrated how he makes a spiraling glass Christmas tree ornament beginning with a bar of clear glass. You can see the process in the video below. I was so impressed with the steadiness of his hands at the flame as he laid down stripes of colored glass onto the bar and how, while heating the glass, he was able to twist and lengthen the glass to take on its final shape. He made it look so easy : ) Like anything else, it takes continuous practice to master these skills and he’s learned how to produce some beautiful effects in his pieces such as metallic flecks swirled into pendants using dichroic glass, imploded glass in wine stoppers that looked like tentacles from a sea plant, and vortexes that give the illusion of depth in contemporary marbles. You can see all of this in the video below.

I had a wonderful time meeting with Morgan and I’m thrilled to have discovered another talented artist in New Haven that is creating objects of beauty. I can never get enough of those because of the richness they add to our lives and the happiness they make me feel. And yes, I am grateful!! If you’re interested in seeing more of Morgan’s work, you can contact him at misticglass@gmail.com.